Maybe it’s a lingering Independence Day hangover, but it seems that everyone in America has jumped on the patriotic bandwagon over the United States Olympics uniforms. On Wednesday, Ralph Lauren — arguably one of the most iconic American fashion designers — released images of the opening ceremony uniforms designed for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team. By Thursday, besides drawing criticism for the garments’ sartorial shortcomings, consumers, politicians and the media were gasping over another jarring detail: our elite American athletes are going to appear on the international stage wearing clothes manufactured in China?

Both sides of the political aisle immediately went on the attack, blaming the U.S. Olympics Committee for outsourcing the team’s garments and mementos — even though they did the exact same thing in 2008. “You’d think they’d know better,” House Speaker John Boehnersaid. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid went even farther, telling reporters, “I am so upset. I think the Olympic committee should be ashamed of themselves. I think they should take all the uniforms, put them in a big pile and burn them and start all over again.”

But would Mr. Reid and other politicians who have shared their disappointment in these China-made uniforms care to throw their own clothes in the fire, as well? It’s no secret that the majority of American-designed clothes we wear (myself included) are not actually produced in America. Where’s the outrage over that?

According to Erica Wolf, executive director of Save the Garment Center, an organization that seeks to preserve New York City as the capital of American fashion, just 5% of the clothing sold in the U.S. is actually manufactured here. In 1960, that number was 95%. That’s a significant statistic that should garner attention on its own, especially with all the debate about job creation and the flailing U.S. economy. Politicians are quick to get outraged about the importance of “Made in America” for the Olympic Games, but in reality, Save the Garment Center and other organizations have pushed congress to prioritize legislation that supports U.S. apparel manufacturers. So far, however, the issue hasn’t come to a vote. “The controversy over the Olympic uniforms has given [Made-in-America manufacturing] much more of an awareness to the national level,” Wolf told me in a phone interview. “But it’s not enough. We need more.”

U.S. manufacturing is on the rise overall — it increased 5.7% since June 2009, creating some 330,000 jobs — but there is much progress to be made in the fashion industry. According to ABC News, if all the clothing and mementos from the Olympics had been made in the U.S., it would have kept $1 billion from going overseas. So imagine the economic impact that producing all (or at least more) of the American-designed clothes in the U.S. would have. As New York Rep. Steve Israel said on the House floor Thursday morning, “‘Made in America’ is not just a label, it’s an economic solution.”

Rep. Israel and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who have both been supporters of American manufacturing, wrote a letter to the Olympic Committee on Thursday morning asking that it “take immediate steps to guarantee that this embarrassment does not happen again by voting that any future contracts for Olympic uniforms are made in America.” But why stop there? We can start by buying American ourselves — it does exist. A 2011 Moody’s Analytics report found that if consumers spent an extra 1% on U.S. goods, it would create 200,000 jobs. That would be no small victory.

Friday evening, the Lauren company issued the following statement:

For more than 45 years Ralph Lauren has built a brand that embodies the best of American quality and design rooted in the rich heritage of our country. We are honored to continue our longstanding relationship with the United States Olympic Committee in the 2014 Olympic Games by serving as an Official Outfitter of the US Olympic and Paralympic teams. Ralph Lauren promises to lead the conversation within our industry and our government to address the issue to increase manufacturing in the United States. We have committed to producing the Opening and Closing ceremony Team USA uniforms in the United States that will be worn for the 2014 Olympic Games.

This anti-trade "buy American" nonsense is ridiculous. Low-skilled manufacturing's days are done in America. This doesn't mean we've lost jobs, it just means the work we do will be different. If you have a degree in a STEM field or practice a skilled trade, you'll do fine. There's still plenty of demand for doctors, engineers, computer programmers or skilled trades like plumbers, electricians, etc.

Rather than using tariffs and trade barriers to force poor people to buy over-priced American goods, we ought to reform our education system to turn out workers ready for the 21st century economy.

Rather than demonize investors who go overseas, we ought to fix the reasons WHY they go overseas. Lower our corporate tax rate (currently it's the world's highest), flatten our tax code and fix the mess that is America's financial regulatory system. If we make America the most profitable place in the world to invest then people will invest here. If not, they will seek other markets.

The greatest hypocrisy is to claim that the reason of objecting to wearing uniform made in China is purely economical. Admit it, the reason is that the American's pride has been hurt. Swallow your pride. More and more things will be made in China whether you like it or not.

The Boy Scouts of America require official uniforms to be made in America. This being the case, complete uniforms are very expensive. I'm glad they adhere to this policy but glad not everything is that expensive!

Let's see. All the tax breaks we gave to clothing manufacturers to move their operations off shore. Yep. And check out most of the Flags that the American Legion likes to hand out. You guessed it - Made in China.

All this talk about the Olympic uniforms makes me sick - to think our senators and congressman don't have better things to discuss. Its so Hypocritical. On both sides of the isle, Democrats and Republicans alike are throwing Ralph Lauren under the bus for the uniforms that were made for opening ceremonies .... Let me ask these fine upstanding politicians ..."where are the cloths on your back being made" ? Do you only wearing American made cloths ? Whats in you closet ? ??? LOL . And where are the NIKE/ADIDAS etc. sneakers and swimsuits being made that are going to help propel our athletes to victory ?? We all know that answer. GET A GRIP - GET A LIFE- STOP GRANDSTANDING AND DO THE JOB YOUR OVER PAID TO DO !!

Welcome to the age of Global corporations..... They arent tied to any one nation or notion.... All they care about is just one thing and one thing ONLY...PROFITS... And lots of them..at any costs...and its never enough of it... They have and will go to any lengths for it...Destroy lives, societies, democracies...anything . These modern entities which are similar to psychopaths are now classified by the corrupt US Supreme Court as 'persons' ......this is just the beginning...

Really? You are proposing that we tariff or quota Chinese clothes? First of all, that's totally anti-American (can't handle the competition?), secondly, it economically asinine. How folks that don't know the first thing about economics are allowed to write op-eds in TIME on topics such as these is beyond me. Do you not understand that trade sanctions ultimately cost the economy more in inflation than the jobs they produce / save? For every factory you save you are shutting down 20 Targets.

There is no reason in this world why it should be cheaper to make ANY product halfway around the world cheaper than it can be made here. Transportation costs alone should make it impossible to be profitable in that manner. So why is it possible? Because in 1974 the United States took itself off the Gold Standard and the rest of the world followed in kind. So China can print money and thereby peg their currency lower than ours. The solution to most of our current problems is to return to the Gold Standard. But that won't happen because the banksters make so much easy profit through the printing of money. You and I pay the costs of money printing through inflation (i.e., your dollar buys less because printing more makes what you have worth less).

I think it may have more to do with payroll, a company's largest expense. With the wages demanded by American workers with the benefits it easily outpaces what a Chinese worker gets. After a recent strike Chinese workers gained an extra $28 per month. It wasn't what they wanted, but close, and they were satisfied. American workers are excellent, and we all want and even deserve a good wage, but that is what helped most companies decide to leave. It matters not if you receive breaks and incentives if you know costs will be similar, but it's not even close. And when the unions are present the costs are even higher. It would be nice to buy 95% American made goods but I can't afford it - and I have a decent wage job.

American politicians only whine when the can get press... in reality they couldn't care less about where the clothes are made, they only try to score brownie points by ranting about what might seem like a hot potato. All the while they buy the same "made in other parts of the world" goods and think nothing of it. Truthfully, the rest of the world looks at American politicians as the most stunned, knuckle draggers around... scary since you have nukes...

HE MADE THEM IN CHINA,BECAUSE HE WANT TO MAXIMIZE HIS PROFITON ONE OF THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS EVENTS THE WORLDHAS THE OFFER. I SAY BAN RALPH LAUREN FROM THE 2014 OLIMPICS,LET HIM MAKE UNIFORMS FOR THE CHINESE

I'll tell u what's wrong with china and chinese people,in this deal,there are two winners: chinese red nobles and those major American multinational corporations,and there are aslo two losers:American people(at least they get the "cheaper" benefit) and those real suckers -- chinese common people( i'm not just talking about those workers,but all socioeconomic strata except those vampires related to the government who's using currency manipulation to suck everything up),those poor chinese bastards are robbed in countless ways by their government.

If anyone has ever seen the sweat shops in china they would feel pity for them not racist hatred. Since when has it become politically correct to hate Asians? You know what the greatest American ideal has been; to Love all people of all races. What an embarassment to hear politicians voice hatred toward a nation of people over clothes. Politicians should put people in their heart not their hate.

But didnt we as a Americans constantly propagandized over our history with need to believe in the notion of 'villians' or 'enemy' to hate.? Characterizing any country that rises up in military or economic power who might challenge our imperial power over the world? Nazis, Soviets and now Chinese..

U.S. Olympic athletes representing their country on a national stage are not the same as Joe Sixpack buying a t-shirt from Walmart. If the author of this article can't figure that out then they need to go back to the mailroom. And saying we should buy American made apparel as though average consumers can afford it? What's with all these clowns living in bubbles presuming to know what's best for the rest of us?

are beginning to complain about poor wages and are demanding better pay. Shipping goods back to the USA is also getting expensive. This may eventually bring back our manufacturers. However, greed from executives and CEO's will continue to divide the classes. America may never be the home of the free again unless you are wealthy.

US politicians act like a idiot.The true is not because the uniforms are not made in America.The fact is they are made in China if they were made in other country rather than China,it won't stir up all this fuzz.

That is only logical, as China is the primary competitor of the U.S. That American Olympians are wearing clothes not manufactured in their own country, but that of their primary competitor, is demoralizing and insulting to Americans. The Olympics are entirely about symbolism and national pride; it is unfortunate that Ralph Lauren has none of the latter and understands nothing about the former.

"But I can't afford to buy American because I don't have a job. But I can't get a job because not enough people buy American. But I can't afford to buy American because I don't have a job. But I can't get a job because not enough people buy American..."

"Maybe if we lower taxes on the rich, instead of just keeping the extra money, they'll use it to hire me. They got rich by helping others like that, right?"

That is true but not entirely correct. Greed builds on itself. Doesn't matter if we lower taxes on the rich, they will always find ways to make them richer, disregarding how you live your life.

"Cool we get taxed less, but we still make more money manufacturing our products in China than in the US, so let's continue to do that".

US companies didn't just outsource and move their plants to China because they couldn't make a profit here. It's because they couldn't make "enough profit". How much is enough for the rich is the question.

Incredibly on the money!!!! As a man who lost his thriving business to the "free trade" agreements of the 1990's, I fully understand and agree that the Dems can't run away from the giveaway of much of our manufacturing base, just as the Republicans can't run away from the almost depression creating fiscal policies from their era of the previous decade.

When you eliminate all barriers to trade, when your trading partners are both quite competitive and engage in currency manipulation, when the free market is your national religion and deregulation is your rallying cry, this is what you get.

Our elected representatives are no dummies -- they know this. But they are also too cowardly to tell the electorate the obvious truth.

where and when we are representing America we should do just that, but then again being an American who purchases international goods, who is to say what that really means. http://MayorMoney.blogspot.com